A little help please

[whatasketch]

Hi, I've recently become interested in insect and butterfly photography. I have tried my best to identify this one in photo but am unable - its probably not even a butterfly! Would be grateful for any help. It was found by a river in long grass in Galgorm Northern Ireland. It's very transparent. Thanks!

[bugboy]

Hi, this is a Lacewing, a gardeners friend which chomps it's way through aphids

[whatasketch]

That's great, thanks for your help. I should perhaps have taken it home to my garden!

[bugboy]

That's great, thanks for your help. I should perhaps have taken it home to my garden!

If you have Aphids and you don't use insecticide, they're probably already there!

[Chris L]

I hope that you don't mind me adding to this thread Whatasketch rather than create a new one.

Every day is a joy in my debut butterfly season. In the last few days I have seen 3 that I have never seen before ! I would really welcome your help with the identification of the 3.

When I took this first photo I thought I was taking a photo of a female Common Blue. It was only later when I got home that I concluded that as it had no blue at all it must be a Brown Argus. Is that correct?



The next photo is truly ghastly as my phone was malfunctioning. It gave me a few overheating warnings over the weekend. There were a few of these characters flying about and they are a wonderful site. Bright orange / gold, like a Wolves shirt of yesteryear (unlike their current awful shirt colour). They are quite small, the size of a Small Copper. I am going to have a go at Small Skipper.



Finally, this one. I think it is a Meadow Brown but I was a bit put off by the virtual absence of a wing eye. A much larger butterfly than the other two.

[Padfield]

Hi Otep. Your first butterfly is indeed a brown argus. There are several indicators, including the half-chequered fringes, the alignment of the spots on the underside hindwing and the dark spot in the forewing, but in this instance the killer is that it is a male (as shown by the abdomen), and so cannot be a female common blue.

Your next one is a female large skipper and the last one, as you suspect, a meadow brown. The apical eyespot of the forewing is obscured by the hindwing.

Guy

[Chris L]

Thank you ever so much Guy. The knowledge that you have (and everyone on here) leaves me in awe. To even be able to determine a gender is incredible. I am extremely grateful for all the help that I get with my learning.

[Chris L]

My debut season and I thought to myself 'Based upon what I know at present I suspect that the biggest challenge I will face is telling apart small, large and green veined whites'. I was very, very wrong. I am challenged by Skippers ! I am assuming that I wouldn't expect to see an Essex Skipper yet. Please could you look at the 3 pictures below and try to identify them as Small or Large Skippers. I assumed that they were all Small Skippers because of their size (they were small) but reading about black antenna has put doubts in my mind.

Exhibit A



Exhibit B



Exhibit C

[David M]

Hi Otep,

These are Large Skippers. The underside mottling is the giveaway.

Small and Essex Skippers do not usually emerge until well into June, although in a very early year such as this surprise appearances can be encountered.

Your middle image is of a female, who lacks the forewing sex brand that the males exhibit.

[Chris L]

Thank you ever so much David. It is much appreciated. Will the Small Skipper be noticeably smaller?

[David M]

Small Skippers are much less robust than Large Skippers, Otep. They also spend much longer dithering in the air. Large Skippers tend to make regular short flights in between spells where they perch.